As the 25th year of the 21st century rolls onto its first day, the prices of a few goods, services and financial rules are set to change. Usually, the first day of a month and the 15th day are the times when LPG prices can be revised. The first day of January will also mark the time when the labour ministry is going to make changes in government schemes and EPFO (Employees Provident Fund Organisation) rules.
Apart from EPFO pension, the changes will encompass a diverse sector such as GST, UPI payments for a certain section of users, expansion of upper limit of agriculture loans (free from collaterals), expiry rules of certain stock exchange contracts and so on. However, the Union finance ministry did not change the interest rates on small savings such as National Savings Certificates and PPF (Public Provident Fund).
Change in EPFO pension rule
One welcome change that pensioners from EPFO (Employees Provident Fund Organisation) can benefit from is a centralised pension payment system which was approved in September 2024 by the government. It will be effective from January 1, 2025. It will help 7.8 million members of EPS (Employee Pension Scheme) to draw their pension from the branch of any bank in the country. Needless to say, it will be of great convenience to all the EPFO pensioners.
Share market expiry rule change
The share market expiry rule will change from January 1, 2025. This concerns BSE Sensex, Sensex 50 contracts and Bankex indices. Following the change, the expiry will be effective on Tuesday from this date. Earlier, Friday was the time when the expiry for these indices kicked in. This rule is applicable to quarterly and half-yearly contracts on the last Tuesday of the month. The new rule has shifted Nifty 50 monthly contract expiry to Thursdays.
Agricultural loans collateral-free
RBI has increased the cap for collateral-free loan for farmers to Rs 2 lakh from January 1, 2025. It was Rs 1.6 lakh earlier. The move will support small and marginal farmers who are troubled by rising costs of inputs. The RBI directive has been issued to banks which mentions waiver of collateral and margin requirements for loans up to Rs 2 lakh for every borrower.
UPI 123Pay payment limit to double
From January 1, 2025, the users of UPI 123Pay will be greatly benefitted since they can conduct higher-value online payments from feature phones. As notified by the RBI notification, from January 1 they can conduct transactions of Rs 10,000. Earlier, this ceiling was at Rs 5,000.
Changes in GST rules
From January to access the GST portal businesses have to go for multi-factor authentication. This involves an increased security feature. It will entail an additional verification through the use of a OTP that will be sent on the registered phone. Moreover, businesses will be able to generate E-way bills for transactions made in the proceeding 180 days. According to reports, companies will need to update contact details for these changes.
LPG cylinder prices
The price of domestic LPG cylinders was not changed from January 1, 2025. However, the price of commercial LPG cylinders has been marginally reduced. For example, the price of the 19 kg LPG cylinder has gone down by Rs 19 in Kolkata. The Union Finance Ministry, in a social media communication, informed that the interest rates on small savings instruments such as PPF, NSC, SCSS (Senior Citizen Saving Scheme) have not been revised for Janaury-March 2025 period.
Several changes from today, January 1, 2025 will impact your wallet and monthly budget and it will have an effect on everyone. The reason: there will be a change in prices of several items and services that are essential to our lives from today. Personal Finance Business News – Personal Finance News, Share Market News, BSE/NSE News, Stock Exchange News Today
